


The Home You Make

by rednight16



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-10-22 16:07:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10700442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rednight16/pseuds/rednight16
Summary: Sometimes the ones that end up close to you are the people that you least expect.





	The Home You Make

**Author's Note:**

  * For [psyraah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/psyraah/gifts).
  * Inspired by [the stars watch over you](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10532748) by [psyraah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/psyraah/pseuds/psyraah). 



> Because like many others I am in complete denial of anyone dying in Voltron, this was born. Also this is for Psy who is a terrible influence and your writing is wonderful <3

“So it’s sounds like o?”

“Yes, somewhat. Try again.” Shiro made a face, concentrating as he tried to sound out the word again. Ulaz nodded when he looked up, satisfied this time. “Better. Let’s move on.”

Since Thace and Ulaz had come to stay in the castle with the rest of them, there had been a lot of adjusting for both the paladins and the Alteans. It was two more people wandering around the castle, two more mouths to feed, two more people training on their own side of the training deck while they run drills. Shiro had seen that some of the others, especially Allura, had been uncomfortable at first and taken some time to trust the two Galrans. He supposed he should be the same given his past, but he’d trusted Ulaz since he rescued him, and if Ulaz trusted Thace then Shiro could trust him as well. There was also the added bonus that instead of more people to explain his trauma to every time a flashback or nightmare took him, it was two people who could walk into the training room at 3 a.m. and understand exactly why he was there. 

After that first night, and some initial reluctance, he’d come to start seeking out the Galrans whenever sleep was eluding him yet again. They were almost always awake already, which alleviated any guilt he could feel about waking them up just so he wasn’t alone. Half the time he was content to just sit next to them and let them talk amongst themselves, listening to their voices as he tried to relax. But the other half, on nights like tonight, he asked them to teach him more of their language. Ulaz was his usual teacher, patient and calm as he coached Shiro through unfamiliar letters and syllables. This of course led them to where they were now, with Thace quietly observing as Ulaz tried to teach Shiro how to say simple words and phrases.

“Do you need a break, Shiro?” Ulaz watched Shiro for a moment, focused on the bags underneath his eyes. They’d already tried to convince him to go to sleep, Ulaz’s stern frown a rather convincing tactic, but the threat of nightmares and lying awake alone kept Shiro standing firm until they gave in.

“We can keep going, it’s fine.” Shiro’s voice stayed soft, not wanting to disturb the quiet of the room. Ulaz met Thace’s eyes over Shiro’s shoulder, the other giving a slight nod.

“Very well. We will continue then.” The next word was a bit more complicated, and Shiro frowned as he stuttered over the first syllable. Human languages, or at least the languages he knew, didn’t include a lot of the new noises that Galran required. “Try again, go slowly.” Ulaz repeated the word, emphasizing the newer vocalizations. Shiro spoke slowly, and Ulaz nodded. “Again.” After the third repetition he looked satisfied. “Good.”

“What does that mean?” Shiro glanced between them both curiously.

“I believe your word for it is planet.” Thace spoke as he glanced at Ulaz, who nodded.  
“Planet, yes.” Ulaz paused, looking thoughtful for a moment. “Shiro, I have a request if you would be willing to honor it.”

Shiro snapped out of his own thoughts, blinking up at him. “Oh, yeah, sure. What is it?”

“You mentioned once before that you speak more than one Earth language. What was it?”.

“Japanese.” Shiro smiled lightly when Ulaz’s expression brightened. 

“Yes, that was it.” He straightened, Thace moving to sit next to him across from Shiro. “We would ask that along with continuing our lessons, that you would teach us your language as well.”

Shiro’s eyes widened slightly as he glanced between the two. “You...want to learn? But why? You don’t really need it for anything.”

Thace’s eyes softened a little. “It is only fair. Nonetheless, knowledge is the way of the Blade. It would not do for us to avoid new knowledge, whatever it may be.” A small smirk flitted across his lips, and Ulaz’s eyes crinkled just slightly in the corners as he kept his expression smooth.

“Well, in that case I guess it makes sense. Wouldn’t want to go against the Blade.” Shiro smiled, chest warm. Thace’s sense of humor had caught him off guard at first, not having expected it from the calm, serious Galran. But the more he was around it, the more he appreciated the subtle jokes. Shiro hummed to himself quietly, trying to think of where to start. “Uh, I guess we’ll start with the basics. So it sounds really different from English and Galran…”

Time passed very differently in space, and Shiro found that he actually really enjoyed acting as a teacher. Ulaz and Thace were both incredibly smart but also inquisitive, and it didn’t take long for them to pick up the basics even with all of their questions. Although they still struggled with pronunciation, and Shiro had to hide his smile a few times as they tripped over strange syllables much like he had. So when Shiro glanced down at the little timekeeper Pidge had made him, he had to do a doubletake. It was well past when he should have gone back to his room, and now Shiro only had a few hours at most to attempt to sleep before he had to be up for training. This caused Thace to stand. “I believe we should continue this lesson another night. I apologize for keeping you so late.” 

Shiro shook his head, taking the hand that was extended to him to stand up. “No, that’s not your fault. I should’ve been keeping track.” He yawned, jaw cracking with the force of it as he started for the door. He didn’t have to look to know that both Thace and Ulaz were following him, their soft footsteps and quiet conversation comforting in the dark hallways. They never let him walk back alone, though he’d never been able to convince them to tell him why. The only time they hadn’t was when Pidge had come looking for him one night, babbling about a movie she’d found on the castle systems that she wanted to watch. They’d both looked quite amused as Shiro was quite literally tugged out of the room, not that he was struggling terribly hard against Pidge’s grip on his hand.

The walk never felt terribly long, and tonight was no exception as Shiro found that his feet had carried him to his door while he was lost in thought. Hitting the lock, Shiro had to force himself to turn around as his bed came into view. He was exhausted, and nothing sounded better than sleep right now. Thace and Ulaz were still standing there, though their conversation had paused. Shiro had to stifle another yawn as he tried to speak, making him laugh lightly. “I should probably go to sleep. Thanks for the lesson.”

Ulaz nodded, lips quirking up for just a moment. “Thank you for ours. We will see you after your sleep cycle.”

Shiro smiled. “Yeah, sounds good. Night.”

He almost turned to go inside, but the look that Thace and Ulaz shared made him pause. He was about to ask if something was wrong, but they spoke in unison before he could even open his mouth. “Oyasumi.” 

Shiro blinked in surprise, staring at them both. Their pronunciation had been perfect, and they hadn’t even spent that long on the word. He smiled widely, his chest warm. “Oyasumi.”

Seemingly satisfied, the two started back down the hall towards the rec room, resuming their former conversation in hushed Galran. Shiro ducked inside his room, the door closing behind him as he collapsed onto his bed still smiling. He was going to be very tired during training tomorrow, but for that moment, it was worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> I did not get this beta read and I've done as much editing as I can find, so if you find any mistakes please let me know! Otherwise enjoy~
> 
> Note: For those that don't speak Japanese, oyasumi is good night.


End file.
